1. Some fans picked some players that are not likely going to fall to 26. Though they would be happy if those players fell, there was not much desire to trade up to get these players.

2. Some players were not mentioned because national discussion of these picks would suggest they would be chosen much lower than the 26th pick. If one of these players was chosen and it was surprise, this would result in teeth gnashing, angina, talk radio blurgh.

3. Some fans didn’t have specific views on players, but rather general ideas about what positions or trades they would like, not like. This is shown in the infographics.

4. There’s a few players that fans have a strong feeling about, either for or against. Some of it is because analysis of those players is all over the place nationally and locally. Some players were mentioned a lot because analysts have been mentioning those players going to the Texans a lot. The thing Texans fans most agreed on? Nobody supporting Alshon Jeffrey with the Texans first pick in the draft but a lot wanting him not picked.

5. Just because fans didn’t like a player at 26, does not mean that they don’t like that player at all. There was a lot of discussion in the comments on how they might not like a guy at 26 but would be okay if there was a trade down or if that guy was chosen in the 2nd round. Trade downs in general were a very popular topic.

6. Even though this is not a scientific cross section of the fanbase, I bet it explains the fan reaction the day of the draft. It also probably suggests how much the Texans have to educate their fans why they picked one guy over another. If they pick someone controversial, unfamiliar or disliked with the first pick, someone outside of traditional big board views of value, they better get their Pravda machine going in overdrive.

I don’t think it is fair for fans to hate a pick on draft day because a guy can’t help that they are picked by the Texans, and haven’t even been given an opportunity to do something on the field. But I also don’t think it serves the player or the team any good to not explain the detailed whys behind the pick.

The Texans have become a million times better at doing this in the post-Casserly era. You know, giving fans logic, reasons, background and saying a lot more than “If you don’t like the pick, boo me.” Texans fans ended up liking the Mario Williams pick more than is discussed in national media articles about the choice, but the Texans did a horrific job of foreshadowing/selling that pick before it was made and after. It was like Casserly felt it was sufficient to say, “Hey I like this guy better than Julius Peppers,” “We need to rush Peyton Manning,” “Boo me” and then calling it a day.

Find it interesting that in more recent years, it is a less controversial view to suggest that a running back needs to be extremely special to be picked high in the draft. That positional value seems to be given more attention than it was just 5 years ago. I know I see that in blog comments and more in TV/Radio sports talk in general.

[Note: I do not want this post to devolve into a Mario blah blah post. Bygones. Only discussing in the context that teams do themselves and their players a favor when they share their thinking in depth about draft picks instead of mostly saying “trust me, Charley Casserly a guy who is a lame duck GM and who traded multiple high round picks for Phillip Buchanon” and other some such I would rather not talk about ever again.]

Wordle Infographics.

I’m going to do a follow up post to this one with different infographics that show some other things, but this particular type of infographic is a Wordle. It shows “word clouds” that visually represent how much a particular thing is liked (or in some cases disliked).

Draft Picks That Some Texans Fans Would Say “YES!!!!” To.

Draft Picks That Some Texans Fans Would Say “NOOOOOOOOO! To.

Draft Picks That Some Texans Fans Would Say “Meh” To.

Draft Picks That Texans Fans as a Group Like More Than Dislike.

Draft Picks That Texans Fans as a Group Dislike More Than Like.

Any thoughts about this infographic? Will be an interesting time capsule blog post to look at right after the draft, and a lot after the draft. I bet it will explain post-draft freakouts, non-freakouts.

The Texans draft board tends not to look like the national draft board guys’ boards. At pick 26, the only surprising thing would be a non-surprise.